The Red Dragonfly by Katherine Paterson Summary

The last nights of August are swollen with the promise of typhoons on the boy's island. This is also the season for Obon, making it easy to believe in spirits of the unknown dead who must be placated. At that time, he was young and obsessed with his teacher. His teacher reminded him of the red dragonfly of late summer, and he even wrote a haiku about her: "On the lantern/rests a dragonfly/friends of autumn" (p. 66). The boy studies alone in the empty house while the rest of the village celebrates, but a red dragonfly on his lamp reminds him of his teacher. He carefully writes and folds the poem, dressing in his school uniform and running around the edge of the village to avoid being seen. He slips the poem...